


Evaar'la

by CT_1205



Series: Mhi Ba'juri Verde [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Background Clonecest, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fix-It, Foxiyo Week 2020, M/M, No Beta We Die Like Clones, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28382763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CT_1205/pseuds/CT_1205
Summary: Foxiyo Week 2020Later, they would have to clear the mess on the terrace and wash their dirty dishes and put away their leftovers. The wine would either be finished or stoppered and set in the fridge to stay chilled because Riyo refused to drink warm wine. They would have to wash their faces and brush their teeth and settle down in their bed with Fox’s side nearest the door. They would find themselves wrapped in each other and Fox would kiss her neck where her skin still remained smooth and unmarked. An unfortunate side effect of a love shared only in the shadows of unjust laws.Later, the galaxy would judge them for the crimes they committed and they would watch their family be threatened by the very institution they swore to protect. Love would not always be enough of a force on its own and they would have to learn what that meant for them when it happened.This takes place prior to Chapter 3 ofMhi Ba'juri Verde. While it functions as a prequel in the series, it can be read as an independent story.
Relationships: Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Series: Mhi Ba'juri Verde [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078775
Comments: 27
Kudos: 52
Collections: Commander Fox





	1. Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my addition to Foxiyo Week 2020! I am thrilled to be taking part in this event as it is my very first ship week ever. I do intend to complete the entirety of the week's prompts, even if it takes longer than originally planned, so stick around even if this takes a little longer than 7 days. I promise we will get there in due time.
> 
> This fic does belong to my larger AU but it can be read as a stand alone story. If you would like to know more about my universe, I also regularly update the main fic in this series, _Mhi Ba'juri Verde._
> 
> If you enjoy this, comments and feedback would be oh so greatly appreciated. If you want to chat some more, I can be found on Tumblr under Mockingjay34.

Fox’s day began every morning at 0430 whether he set an alarm or not.

That day was no different.

He slipped out of his overly soft bed as quiet as he could and padded across the carpet to crack the bedroom door open so as to let a beam of light stream in from the hallway. He then crossed the room to his closet to pull out a clean set of blacks and undershorts before venturing into the refresher to take a shower that was exactly 10 minutes long.

Once all signs of stubble has been banished from his face and his breath smelled of Nabooian mint, he turned out the lights before opening the door to the dark bedroom beyond again.

Fox’s armor had its very own rack set back in the corner of the room closest to the door. Conveniently, the hallway light perfectly illuminated the bright red of the paint to guide his way, as if he needed the help after countless mornings moving through the room as quiet as a Senate mouse. There was nothing to be done about the snap of the armor plates as he pulled them on. He worked as quickly and efficiently as he possibly could and avoided banging the hard plastoid plates together unnecessarily.

Once he was finished, he opened the bedroom door wide enough to fit his fully armored form through while staying mindful of its squeaky hinge so as not to aggravate the joint. Fox tiptoed through the apartment and grabbed his work bag full of datapads and flimsi from beside the front door and slung it across his back. From there, he took the service elevator at the far end of the hall down to the bottom floor of the posh apartment building and slipped out a side door into Coruscant beyond.

He made his way down the street from the distinct high rise building and reached the speeder bus stop just in time for his to arrive. Fox went down 3 levels from the surface and walked another kilometer before reaching the Coruscant Guard barracks. Really, it was an old, run down apartment building that had been renovated to house the Guard at the outbreak of the war. But barracks sounded more professional so that’s what the sign outside called them, never mind the total lack of any security of note anywhere in the entire complex. By the time he reached his building, it was nearly 0530 and he was perfectly on time, as per usual.

The door to the apartment he shared with Thire, Thorn, and Stone stuck in its frame when it was humid outside, meaning always considering the amount of wet heat surrounding them from the GAR space port a few levels above. So, after his key clicked open the lock, he knocked into the door with his armored hip until it snapped free with a crack. He slammed it closed behind him to force it to seal properly.

Just like any other day when Fox was scheduled to be on duty, the apartment already smelled heavily of caff and cooking meat when he walked into the cramped space. In the tiny living room, Thorn was sat on the threadbare couch wearing only the lower half of his armor. He was flipping through channels on their even tinier holoscreen and every so often he would turn the volume up a few clicks to compete with the music streaming from Stone’s radio in the kitchen. Mysteriously, the music also always seemed to get louder.

To no one’s surprise, Thire was the last to rise for the day. Even then, only the sound of the front door cracking angrily at Fox’s entrance made him stumble from his room. His hair was sleep mused and his face was unshaven and raggedy and he was wearing nothing more than his black boxer shorts. Stone stuck his arm out of the door to the kitchen with a mug of caff in hand. Thire took it and collapsed into _his_ ugly, brown armchair next to the couch. He sat the mug on the table next to _his_ chair, missing the coaster entirely, and leaned back with his eyes closed. He wasn’t on duty that day anyway, so he could afford to be lazy. The caff would soon grow cold and when Thire eventually opened his eyes again, he would take a single sip and grimace angrily at the stale taste.

Fox was met with halfhearted waves and “hellos” as he made his way through the apartment. He even got a lively snore out of Thire which was an honor in and of itself. He slipped into his cramped, little room and switched out some of the data pads in his bag for others he would need that day. That finished, he accepted a bowl of whatever Stone had cooked up that morning because it was undoubtedly better than anything served in the mess hall, and he collapsed next to Thorn on the couch to watch the daily news.

Later, he would drop his dishes in the dingy sink in their kitchen for Thire to wash when he woke up. Fox would drink a mug of caff with too much sugar and cream just to see the look on Stone’s face as he poured it into the cup by the spoonful. By 0600, Fox would rush out the door to catch the speeder bus to the GAR base with a travel mug full of more caff to get him through the rest of his very long day. Stone would follow at 0615 and barely make the speeder bus while still fastening his kama to his hips. He will have forgotten his own travel mug of caff on the kitchen counter and Thorn would bring it with him when he came to base an hour later. Thire would sleep in _his_ armchair until his alarm rang to wake him for the evening shift that he would spend playing sabacc with a group of shinies. He had only been awake in the first place because his _vode_ were.

But, until that time came, the food in his bowl was warm and soothed the ache from his stomach. The rest of the world could wait for a few more minutes.

***

Riyo Chuchi’s day began every morning at 4:30am whether she set an alarm or not.

That day was no different.

She pretended to be asleep even when the bed shifted and some of the warmth vanished from her side. In those early hours of the morning she would wake slowly to the sounds of creaky door hinges and running water and armor snapping together softly. Her door would only open enough to allow the lights from the hall outside to shine on one small corner of her room. By the time the apartment door closed on the sounds of heavy boots, Riyo was already drifting back to sleep.

She woke up again at 6:00am to banging on her front door. Riyo was slow to rise, much too comfortable wrapped in her thick duvet. Once she slipped a thin robe over her shoulders and pulled it closed, she made her way through her apartment to unlock her door and interrupt the incessant knocking.

Her assistant, Imka, stood just outside the door laden with a bag full of data pads and a tray with flimsi cups full of designer caff.

“Good morning,” Riyo greeted with a kind smile, taking one of the identical cups and moving for Imka to come inside. Truthfully, Riyo wasn’t much a fan of the creamy, overly sweet concoction her assistant brought her every morning before they headed to the Senate building. She didn’t have the heart to tell Imka that she would much prefer a regular caff with a splash of flavored cream and no sugar, but the smile that sprang to the younger girl’s face the first time she brought it to her was enough to hold Riyo’s tongue. She simply paid off Imka’s business expenses card at the end of every month without protest.

“Good morning, ma’am!” Imka chimed enthusiastically, striding into the living room and setting her load heavily onto the creamy leather couch. She was a lovely young girl, just passed the age of 18. Her skin was a shade lighter blue than Riyo’s and her clan tattoos curved up over her forehead into her pink hairline. She was short and plump around the hips and she favored light dresses that swung sweetly at her knees when she moved. “Oh! And a very happy birthday too!” She added.

Riyo learned quickly that Imka was a morning person in every sense of the word. An admirable trait, to be sure, but one that Riyo was certain they would never share.

“Thank you!” Riyo replied in the cheeriest voice she could muster at that hour of the morning. “And, as always, thank you for the caff. What’s on the agenda today?” Riyo plopped down onto the couch next to the bags full of datapads and began to dig through them searching for the one containing her schedule.

“Of course! So, you have a working breakfast at 8 with Chairman Cho before he heads on back to Pantora. The Senate Assembly begins at 10 like always. They say it will end around noon today so I went ahead and marked it down for 1 instead because we both know that is simply unrealistic. Then, there’s a late lunch with Senators Organa, Amidala, and Mothma at 2. Not to worry though I’ll make sure we both have something light to snack on during the Assembly recess to make up for the strange timing. After that, you’re free until the Outer Rim Relief Aid Committee meeting at 4:30.”

Riyo looked up in shock at that. “4:30?” She asked. “Why on earth have they scheduled it so late?”

Imka shook her head sympathetically. “I know, it is rather inconvenient. I was speaking to one of Senator Taa’s aides and she said that he has, and I quote, ‘important personal business to attend to.’ Now, personally I think it seems that Senator Taa may be paying for some company to cope with the Senate Assembly, as one does. Oh, but who am I to judge.” She sighed dreamily and looked at Riyo with a soft smile that only held for a moment before her lips began to quiver and she fell into fits of giggles.

“By the Goddess! That man is infuriating,” Riyo exclaimed.

When Imka spoke again she was still wiping the tears from her eyes. “He certainly is, ma’am. Gracious, just the thought of the _things_ his office walls have witnessed.”

Riyo snorted unattractively. “I live a peaceful life without that knowledge. Regardless of Senator Orn Free Taa’s _extracurricular activities_ , moving the meeting that late disrupts my entire evening! I was supposed to-“

“Have dinner delivered this evening. Yes. I have already contacted the restaurant and it will now be delivered at 7 instead of 6,” Imka said, cutting Riyo off.

“Okay but what about-“

Imka let out a kind laugh. “I assure you, ma’am, your schedule has been adjusted accordingly and everyone that needs to know has been contacted.”

“Everyone?” Riyo asked, sipping as her sickly sweet caff.

“Yes,” Imka answered. “ _Everyone_ knows that dinner is now at 7.”

“Hmm,” Riyo hummed thoughtfully as her cheeks flushed indigo. “Well, thank you for your help, Imka. It is greatly appreciated as always.”

“Never a problem. Now, shall we do your hair?”

Imka led Riyo to her own bedroom and then to the ‘fresher where she plopped her down in the chair in front of the vanity and ran a brush through her hair, combing out large tangles of knots until it hung smooth around her shoulders. Riyo would’ve been happy to leave it as it was, silky and smooth and brushing softly at her upper arms. But seeing as that was unbecoming of the Senator of Pantora, or so she had been told it was, Imka sprayed aerosol after aerosol of product until her hair was tacky and moldable. From there, it was maneuvered into elegant rolls at the back of her head and secured with ornate, gold hairpins.

Riyo took a moment to brush her lashes with mascara and powder her face to remove the shine of oil from her skin. She made her way back into her room where Imka had laid out her clothes and dropped her night gown to the floor. By the time her dress was pulled over her head and her heels were clacking across the durasteel of the speeder dock on her terrace, it was nearly 6:45am and she was running just on time enough to avoid the worst of the morning traffic.

The door to Riyo’s office slid closed behind her at exactly 7:15am and she settled down in the large, comfortably cushioned chair behind her desk and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. Imka had hurried off to collect more datapads from other Senators’ offices and Riyo had taken the opportunity to replace her sugary drink with black caff cut with just a splash of vanilla cream.

Later, she would be forced to choke down the tart tea that the Chairman of Pantora favored with unfortunately dry biscuits that were somehow considered posh. She would have to mind every word that passed her lips and straighten her spine as if a metal pole had been affixed to it and be sure to nod her head even when she didn’t agree with his policies. In the Senate Chambers, she would have to listen as she choked back the tears that sprang to her eyes when they callously debated the cost of the war in credits and debts rather than lives and trauma. Even later that afternoon, she would have to sit across from Senator Orn Free Taa and pretend as if she wasn’t aware his aides catered to his _every_ whim to escape poverty and war on Ryloth. She would have to ignore the scent of sex that clung to his skin and pretend she didn’t recognize the same perfume on his youngest aide.

But, until that time came, the caff in her hand was warm and soothed the exhaustion from her limbs. The rest of the world could wait for a few more minutes.

***

Riyo was still grabbing dishes in the kitchen when she heard the tell-tale sound of her door sliding open in its pocket in the wall at 7:00pm sharp. She stepped just into the living room and felt her heart skip at the sound of heavy boots moving across the tile of her entryway.

Fox closed the distance between them in a few long strides and Riyo threw her arms around his neck in the middle of their living room. Strong arms wrapped around her back and pulled her in close and he settled his nose firmly into her hair.

“Welcome home, Fox,” she said, pulling back from his embrace to smile up at him.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Happy birthday, Riyo.” He leaned down to her level and she rose up onto her toes and they kissed each other firmly. Riyo’s eyes fluttered shut and she moaned into his lips, arching her back to reach him better.

Riyo was the first one to pull away, smoothing her hands down her dress and tucking a few wayward strands of hair behind her ears. She cleared her throat and glanced down as she waited for her cheeks to stop flushing indigo. “Thank you, dearest” she replied softly, pressing a warm hand to his cheek that he leaned into contentedly. “Now, go on and get changed and I’ll set up dinner for us.”

Fox nodded and his smile crinkled his eyes at the corners. He leaned in to press another kiss to her lips before moving down the hall to their room. Fox had long ago dropped the pretense that he didn’t live with Riyo. He had his own apartment that he shared with his fellow commanders, but really he only saw it for a few minutes each day to keep up appearances. Truthfully, Fox spent every spare moment he had in Riyo’s apartment with her. There were marks of him everywhere. Fox’s first stop in the bedroom was his side of the bed. He slept closest to the door for his own peace of mind, and he always kept his armor and blacks racked up neatly in the corner against the wall in case he received an emergency comm in the middle of the night.

He had his own side of the sink in the ‘fresher. There was less adorning the vanity on his side, but the collection was steadily growing as new bottles of cologne and aftershave and hair products mysteriously appeared. Fox insisted all he needed in life was a half decent razor and a toothbrush. The rest would figure itself out. Somehow that translated to an electric razor that took only seconds to remove the stubble from his face and a toothbrush that vibrated for whatever kriffing reason. Fox didn’t make it a habit to argue with Riyo though, and appreciated the little gifts she left for him.

The closet was a little different. Riyo’s clothes took up the majority of the room that easily rivaled Fox’s own office in the GAR headquarters. He had his own little corner that he occupied. He didn’t have too many clothes to speak of anyway, and what he did own was mostly for made comfort. Seeing as it was an important day though, Fox pulled on the denim pants Riyo said made his butt look good and a simple shirt he had found in a discount bin in a second hand shop. Riyo offered Fox the world and told him he should never want for anything as long as she was there. He simply told her she had already given it to him and pulled on the clothes that reminded him he was still a clone.

By the time he made it back to the living room, Riyo had dinner set up on the little table on her terrace overlooking the nicer parts of Galactic City. Her dress was whipping around her in the breeze and she was fighting a losing battle with her hair, but Fox was caught breathless because she would always be the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen.

Even though it had been well over a year since the day he showed her around the Senate building as a newly elected Senator, his breath still caught in his chest when he saw her, like the first time she grasped at his arm for balance after tripping over a wayward corner of carpet. Riyo Chuchi was the greatest decision he had even taken a chance on, and he only regretted having danced around her affections for so many months before allowing the inevitable to happen.

Riyo turned as if she could sense his eyes on her back and smiled that bright smile of hers, the one that showed her teeth and made her eyes squint mostly shut. They settled down on either side of the table when he joined her, and they talked about their days.

“No, I’m sorry, _cyare_ ,” Fox said, “but I am really not shocked that Senator Orn Free Taa was having sex in the middle of the day!”

“Ugh. Please, Fox. Act just a little apalled?”

Fox swallowed the mouthful of warm chicken and rice and laughed at her expense again. “No can do. I have walked in on that man during some of his more ambitious endeavors. You know what does shock me though?”

“Hmm?” She questioned around the fork in her mouth.

“I’m shocked that there are people still willing to _have_ sex with Senator Orn Free Taa. Even for money. The man might as well be a walking STD at this point in his life,” he said gesturing at her with his knife.

Riyo choked on her food, coughing viciously to rid her lungs ofthe vegetables she inhaled. Fox shoved her glass of water closer to her from across the table even as he snorted at her reaction.

“Fox!” Riyo exclaimed when she could breathe properly again. “It is my birthday. I really don’t want to think that hard about that man’s sex life right now!”

“Neither do I!” He replied. “I’m not sure anyone does.”

“I’m certain he would disagree,” she quipped and they both dissolved into laughter again.

When they calmed down, Riyo reached across the table to take Fox’s hand in her own. “How was your day, then?”

Fox shook his head and glanced down at his mostly empty plate. “Ah, you know how it goes, Ri. A lot of spice, and lot of traffickers, a lot of war reports. Got some new shinies in from Kamino today, though.”

“Oh? How did that go?”

The hint of a smile on Fox’s face disappeared entirely and he let out a long sigh, leaning forward in his seat to examine the smooth skin of Riyo’s knuckles. “The batches we got today are only eight,” he said, not making eye contact.

“Eight?” Riyo exclaimed. “Eight as in almost nine or?”

Fox cleared his throat before he spoke again. “Eight as in one of the batches just passed their decant day. They’re about 16 standard.”

“Dear Goddess,” Riyo cursed softly.

“Yeah,” Fox replied. “I haven’t had a batch a full two years out from maturity before, but I guess that means I have some time before I have to worry about any of them presenting.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Small blessings and all of that then.”

Fox shook his head a couple times and when he looked up at Riyo again a smile brightened his features. “Never mind work though,” he said. “Today is about you. It’s a big birthday.”

Riyo snorted and grabbed her glass of wine off the table, waving it at him sarcastically. “Oh yes of course! I can finally buy my own alcohol on Coruscant instead of sending you to the store instead. Which I still find terribly unfair, by the way. Sending an 11 year old to the store for liquor hardly seems appropriate.”

“What can I say, _cyare_? I’m an old soul,” he retorted, stealing the glass from her hand and downing the rest of it before setting it in front of her again.

Riyo gasped in indignation. “You dirty thief! And on the day of my oh so special birth!”

Rolling his eyes, Fox grabbed the bottle and refilled her glass. “It is a special day. It’s a big deal to clones to turn 20 you know.”

“I know,” she said kindly, sipping her replenished wine.

“I know it doesn’t hold the same meaning to natborns. But to hit maturity means freedom to a lot of us. Sure, it’s possible we could present and that’s a whole problem on its own, but to stop aging the way we do, well. It’s a step in the right direction for a lot of us,” he explained.

“Autonomy,” she replied.

Fox nodded, standing and rounding the table to where she sat. “Autonomy,” he agreed. “We don’t get to make a lot of our own choices, but 20 means freedom to age like real people and that means a lot to us clones.”

“You know I don’t like it when you say real people like that,” Riyo admonished.

“Yeah, I know,” Fox agreed, taking both her hands in his own, towering over her where she sat turned in her chair to face him. “But my point is, 20 is important in my culture.”

“What are you doing, Fox?” Riyo asked, brow furrowing curiously.

Fox closed his eyes for just a moment to find his resolve. When he opened them, he met Riyo’s gaze head on and sank to one knee in front of her. “I don’t get to make a lot of my own choices, Riyo. But you have been the greatest decision of my life. I know a life with me will always be unconventional. It may be a long time until we ever sign our names down on the flimsiwork. Hell, that may not ever happen. Regardless of any piece of flimsi, I want to be by your side until you ask me to leave or the _Manda_ takes me. So, what do you say _cyare_? Will you marry me?”

Riyo’s eyes filled with tears and she leaned forward, capturing Fox’s lips with her own. “Yes, yes, yes,” she said, her lips brushing against his skin as she whispered her answer like a prayer.

Fox lifted her from her chair and spun her while she let out happy squeals in his arms, dress whipping around them wildly in a blaze of color.

Later, they would have to clear the mess on the terrace and wash their dirty dishes and put away their leftovers. The wine would either be finished or stoppered and set in the fridge to stay chilled because Riyo refused to drink warm wine. They would have to wash their faces and brush their teeth and settle down in their bed with Fox’s side nearest the door. They would find themselves wrapped in each other and Riyo would gasp and cry in Fox’s attentive grasp and Fox would groan brokenly against her neck where her skin still sat unmarked above her scent gland. An unfortunate side effect of a love shared only in the shadows of unjust laws.

Later, Fox would have to call his batchmates and Riyo would have to call her mother and dates would have to be set and the most trusted guests would have to be invited and Riyo would have to go to fitting after fitting after fitting until she tired of the green of her own wedding gown.

Later, the galaxy would judge them for the crimes they committed and they would watch their family be threatened by the very institution they swore to protect. Love would not always be enough of a force on its own and they would have to learn what that meant when it happened.

Later, Fox would have to get up at 0430 to serve a Republic that sent his brothers to die and Riyo would have to pretend to still be asleep, whether they set an alarm or not.

But, until that time came, Riyo was warm in Fox’s arms despite the chill of the breeze and it soothed the worry from their souls. The rest of the world could wait for a few more minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> vod- brother, comrade, “mate”  
> cyare- beloved  
> Manda- the collective soul or heaven- supreme, overarching, guardian-like


	2. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Look! I made it to Day 2! 
> 
> Fair warning y'all, we're getting a little spicy now. This is a little out of my normal comfort zone, so I very much hope y'all enjoy this chapter. As always, comments and kudos are extremely appreciated!

The most unfortunate part about holding a seat in the Senate was how much time had to be dedicated to appeasing other Senators. Riyo personally would have preferred to dedicate her time to reworking the budget to provide more provisions to the frontline troopers or making sure the lower levels of Coruscant never had to go without power again. Instead, she often found herself at _very_ important events where she talked about little more than the weather on different planets throughout the Republic and the sound quality of one Senator’s pod versus another’s.

Really, it was quite infuriating. All the same, Riyo tugged on her burgundy dress with the high collar and hemline that brushed her calves and pulled the zipper all the way up her neck to encase her throat in soft velvet. It was a comfortable gown to spend an evening in, all things considered, but the gold trim itched just enough to be a constant presence in the back of her mind and one of the embellished pins holding her hair in place dug into her scalp uncomfortably when she sat back in the speeder cab.

The event itself was much the same. Riyo mingled her way through the room, greeting the same people she had said goodbye to just hours before when she left work for the day, but propriety seemed to matter in those situations. She said her “hellos” and "how are yous” then planted herself firmly in a stiff-backed armchair. She was sure to cross her legs at the ankles and not at the knees, as a lady of her standing should or some banthashit.

A kind looking older Rodian woman offered her a delicate teacup and Riyo took it with a grateful nod and a smile, holding it until the woman moved on to another guest with a similar offering. Riyo allowed her nose to wrinkle for half a second as she took in the scent wafting from the cup. The tea itself was an unfortunate, murky brown that swirled with black sediment when she shifted it. It smelled like wet leaves on a forest floor. The ones that had sat for too long right before they began to decay into the ground. Thankfully, it was mostly neutral tasting when she sipped it, but the aftertaste was aromatic and bitter and stayed with her no matter how long she waited between sips. She was careful not to drain her cup before the night ended so as to avoid being offered a refill she couldn’t refuse.

The conversation was dull and the music was set too low to drone in the background to really be enjoyed. The most interesting part of Riyo’s evening by far was Fox.

The Coruscant Guard was stationed on the planet to operate as a peace keeping force in the event of an invasion. They were meant to manage the military prison and supplement the existing GAR forces by helping figure out the logistics of the war. Fox should have been in charge of directing of the Outer Rim battalions, allocating resources, and assigning Shock Troopers to where they were needed most. Instead, he was a glorified babysitter.

Fox spent most of his days concerning himself with the schedules of Senators and whatever social events they decided they needed the protection of the Corrie Guard at. It aggravated Fox beyond belief and Riyo spent more than one evening sat on their couch while he paced back and forth across the living room, spitting in frustration. She would let him tire himself out and when he collapsed next to her on the couch, she would turn on a holofilm and wrap them in a cocoon of blankets. They almost always woke up stiff and uncomfortable the next morning, but the crick in their necks was worth it for the peace it brought them both.

Riyo had no intentions of letting their evening end that way though. They had both been so busy that week they barely saw each other for dinner some days. It would be a better night than that to be sure because once they left that room, it would just be the two of them with no interruptions. She wasn’t needed in the Senate the next morning and it was Fox’s first off day in nearly three weeks and she intended to savor it.

She started small so as to grab his attention. Fox was stationed directly across the room from her at the main entrance, standing stiffly with his back to the wall. From the outside, he could’ve been been a statue in a suit of armor. Riyo knew better though. Behind his helmet, his eyes never stopped moving, tracking every moving part in the room with a precision that had been hammered into him. That was good for her because that meant he would undoubtedly notice was she shifted her weight from one hip to the other, recrossing her ankles once she was settled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his helmet drift to settle more fully in her direction. At great cost to her tastebuds, Riyo brought her teacup to her mouth and took a long sip. When she pulled it back again, she looked directly at him and licked the excess from her lips. The corner of her mouth tilted upward and she cast her eyes back down to look at her lap. Even with the distance between them, Riyo could feel the heat of his gaze on her whenever he could spare her the time.

At the end of the evening, she leaned forward in her seat to set the teacup delicately on the low table in front of her and Fox seemed to be leaning forward on his toes and no one else in the room was any the wiser. After sitting for much too long and listening to far too much senseless small-talk, Riyo pulled herself to her feet, bid the hosts farewell, and walked to the door.

“I hope you have a nice evening, Commander Fox,” she said when she reached him.

Fox reached around her to hit the door release and she was briefly engulfed in the scent of caff and his favorite aftershave and, distantly, her own perfume. “I assure you, Senator,” he said, “my evening will be incredible.”

***

When Riyo exited the speeder cab onto her terrace, she slipped off her heels and carried them into her apartment, more than tired of the ridiculous pinch around her toes and the uncomfortable stretch in her arch. She closed and locked the door firmly behind herself, and flipped a switch to close the blinds over massive wall of windows that peered into her living room.

As she crossed the room in the twilight darkness, she reached back and undid the zip that ran from her neck to the small of her back and allowed the dress to fall in a heap of buttery fabric around her feet. She carelessly dropped her shoes next to it before reaching around and unclasping her bra to toss it over the back of the couch. Riyo spared her mess a look and devolved into embarrassed giggles, covering her mouth and hissing out air between her teeth in a silent wheeze. She doubled over and wrapped an arm around her bare waist as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

“Oh, Goddess. What am I doing?” Riyo asked out loud, standing nearly completely nude in the middle of her living room. She allowed herself another moment to laugh at her own expense, then straightened her shoulders with resolve and turned away.

In her bedroom, she grabbed her nicest robe off a hook by the door and savored the feeling of the silky material laying cold against her bare skin. Riyo let out a satisfied huff as she padded towards her closet, pulling pins from her hair until it fell around her shoulders. Walking to the drawers inset in her closet wall, she pulled open the topmost one to sift through her undergarments. Most of them were practical and comfortable. She had been with Fox for quite some time and he had never once seemed to care what her panties looked like. Truthfully, he was more interested with what happened once they were cast off carelessly to the floor and Riyo had certainly never complained herself. Even still, buried at the very bottom of her drawer were a couple wisps of synthetic silk that only qualified as undergarments by mere technicality. She grabbed one of those in a fist and hesitated only a moment before pulling them up her legs to settle delicately against her hips. Despite being completely alone in her own closet, Riyo tugged her robe tighter around her waist.

Riyo was sitting at her vanity massaging lotion into her calves when she heard the door to her apartment slide open and closed. She hurried to stand and adjust the fabric around her hips before scurrying to the bedroom and out the door into her dark hall.

From where she stood by her bedroom door, Riyo could just barely see Fox round the corner from the foyer and stop behind the couch. She watched from the shadows as he lifted her bra by the strap and held it in the air before his shoulders shook in a way that could only mean he was laughing. Shaking his head, he rounded the couch and picked up her dress from where it was carelessly discarded on the floor. He laid it over the cushions and smoothed his hand across the fabric. Then, he grasped her bra in his hand and made his way towards their bedroom.

Riyo darted back inside before he could see her standing there. She settled herself on the side of their bed with one leg draped across the other and turned to face the door.

“I got the present you left me in the living room,” Fox said as he crossed the threshold.

“Oh?” Riyo questioned. “And what did you think of it?”

Fox moved further into the room and sat his helmet on the table that held the holoscreen opposite the bed. “I think it’s going to take a little more than that to make good on those looks I was getting during that party,” he answered lowly.

“Consider it a promise, then.”

“I plan to,” Fox responded. He started across the room and Riyo expected him to remove his armor and set it neatly against the wall like he did every evening when he got home. Instead, he stopped directly in front of her. He grasped at her crossed legs and spread them wide to step between them.

A gloved hand ghosted against the edge of her thigh and her breath caught in her throat. Fox leaned in so close she could could feel the heat of him, even through his thick armor. Riyo arched forward but met nothing but empty air as he trailed his lips across her jaw and down her neck.

“Fox?”

“I think now it’s my turn to play a game,” he growled. Fox’s lips latched onto her throat and he gave a hard suck to the unmarked skin that sent a shiver down her spine. His teeth grazed the skin and Riyo pulled her legs up around his hips to pull him in closer. Fox braced a hand on the small of her back and trailed the other higher on her thigh, brushing past the flimsy dressing gown.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Riyo gasped as he went back to sucking a bruise into her neck. “I wasn’t playing any games.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” he replied. The hand that sat high on her thigh moved around to slip under her, the one on her back migrating to match it on the other side, and Riyo was abruptly hoisted into the air. She moaned as his codpiece rubbed firmly against her from the new position. “Enjoy that, do you?” He growled in her ear, pulling her in closer to grind on his armor.

Riyo tossed her head back and panted as she moved against him, spurred on when he groaned at the pressure of the plastoid against his cock. “Yes!”

“Good.” The relief was short lived because the next thing she knew she had been tossed gracelessly to the center of the bed.

A gasp was punched out of Riyo’s lungs at the shock of the sudden drop. “Kriff, Fox!” She exclaimed.

He sent her a playful smirk from the foot of the bed before climbing up slowly and settling between her spread legs. “Do you know what you did to me tonight?” He asked gruffly, reaching for the the tie that held her robe closed and pulling until it slipped from around her waist. “Looking at me like that when I couldn’t do anything about it, Riyo. I could’ve taken you over that table in front of all those people if I thought I would’ve gotten away with it.” Fox trailed the silky belt across her skin, goose flesh rising in its wake. “You were gorgeous tonight, _cyare._ I think I’d like you in just this though,” he said, reaching up to tie the silk around her eyes. “It’s more fun this way.”

Riyo squirmed as he spoke, distantly aware of the slick undoubtedly staining the silk between her thighs. She was completely blind to the world, having to rely on his touch and his breath to guide her. Fox nipped at the skin of her throat again before trailing lower down her chest to the neck of her robe. He pushed it to either side and she heard his breath catch in his throat. “I don’t think I’ve seen these before,” he said, dragging a finger up and down her slit through the black panties. The rough fabric of the gloves he still wore caught on the silk and pulled it to one side. The cool air hit the her slick dampened skin and Riyo thought she was on fire.

Riyo cleared her throat. “I-I thought you might like a treat,” she gasped out.

“I would love a treat,” Fox said. His finger left the silk where it was pushed to one side to dip into the slick gathered around her entrance. She keened at the rough woven texture rubbing against her.

“Please,” she whispered, voice choked and breathy.

“Please what?” Fox asked, removing his hand and pushing her panties back into place. Riyo bucked when she felt his tongue against her stomach, trailing up past her ribs and between the valley of her breasts. “What do you want, Riyo?”

“You! You, please I need you!”

Fox trailed his lips back down over her breasts and laved over a pebbled nipple, his damp glove coming up to roll the other between two fingers. Riyo arched her chest into his mouth only for him to pull away and leave her wanting.

“If you insist.”

Riyo yelped as his mouth trailed lower and lower until he reached her soaked panties. His tongue licked at her entrance through the silk, pulling the fabric taught. He teased her until a fresh burst of slick added to the mess and Riyo cried out in release. Fox worked her through it, bringing a hand to circle her clit until her breathing calmed and she whined in protest at the contact. He caught the edges of the fabric with his teeth when she’d had enough and pulled the ruined silk down her legs.

Fox tossed the soaked fabric over his shoulder and pressed his lips to the inside of her knee. “Eager,” he teased. He continued his journey up her legs, tracing a moist path along the smooth skin with his tongue. Riyo was flushed indigo from her cheeks to her ribcage, and her chest moved rapidly as she panted in anticipation. Fox reached the soft skin of her inner thigh and took his time sucking another bruise into the skin.

“Fox, please,” Riyo begged, squeezing her eyes shut behind her blindfold.

“Riyo,” he called, pulling away from her thigh with a _pop_. His hand grasped at her newly love-bitten leg and hiked it up over his shoulder to rest against the cold plastoid of his armor. “Just trust me.”

He dove in then, and licked a stripe over her wet slit. Riyo jerked upwards, chasing his mouth and he pressed her back down into the bed with his forearm over her hips. Fox continued his assault, sucking her clit into his mouth and reaching up with his free hand to tease at her nipple until it was hard and sensitive. It was almost too much all at once and Riyo grasped desperately at the sheets by her head and rolled her hips against his face. “Please!” She cried as heat licked up her neck and and down her arms. “M-more. Fox, I need more.” Her fingers tingled strangely, as if she had touched a live wire.

Fox pulled back and shushed her when she cried out in frustration. “Easy,” he said, wiping her slick from his lips with the back of his glove. He took the middle finger of it between his teeth, jerked the fabric from his hand, and tossed it aside.

When Fox brought his lips to her again, it was to slip his tongue into her entrance once, then twice before dipping in two fingers from his newly ungloved hand. He curled them _just_ right and Riyo saw stars.

She thrashed her head back and forth as her fucked her with his fingers. He took her clit in between his lips and rolled the little nub back and forth with his tongue. This time, he let Riyo buck and grind against his face as he worked his hand back and forth. Riyo reached down and grabbed a handful of his hair and held him closer to her desperately. “Oh, I’m so close! Don’t stop! Oh, please don’t stop!” She cried.

Fox couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to as her heel dug into the armor on his back, guiding him as best as it could. He curled his fingers just right and Riyo’s body bowed off the bed. She moaned, tears of ecstasy falling from her eyes and leaving wet spots against the silk. With just a few more targeted thrusts of his fingers and a well-time suck on her clit, Riyo came on a scream, soaking Fox’s hand and the wrist of his blacks in slick.

He continued to thrust into her to work her through the waves as she clenched hard around his fingers. Fox didn’t stop until the grip on his hair loosened and Riyo pushed at his head. “Stop, no more I can’t,” she gasped.

Fox grasped her leg under the knee and placed it gently back on the bed, massaging the feeling back into her thigh where his unforgiving armor left angry red lines in her skin. Carefully, so as not to startle her, Fox reached up and pulled the blindfold from her eyes. Riyo blinked rapidly as the room came back into focus, and Fox couldn’t help but laugh at her dazed expression where she was splayed out across the sheets with her robe tangled around her. He pulled at the edge of it until Riyo lifted her hips and the fabric slipped from beneath her.

“This is gonna need to be dry cleaned,” he laughed, throwing the garment to the floor to be washed. Riyo kicked out of him in mock offense and he grabbed her ankle easily. He pressed a kiss to her calf muscle before dropping the limb unceremoniously.

Standing from the bed, Fox snapped his belt open and dropped it to the floor, kama, holsters and all, then jerked off his other glove and dropped it on top. The rest of his armor followed quickly, clacking together as each piece fell into a messy pile. He yanked the top of his blacks over his head and shoved the bottoms down along with his undershorts and turned back to where Riyo was propped up on an elbow. “Like what you see?” He asked.

“Oh, no. I’m not adding to your ego,” she laughed, dropping to recline on the bed.

“You screaming as you rode my tongue was enough of a boost anyway,” he said, climbing back onto their bed.

Riyo scoffed and crossed her arms over her breasts. “I do not ‘scream.’”

Fox climbed over her so her hips were bracketed by his knees, and he sat back on his thighs. “Sure you don’t,” he said, grabbing his cock where it stood against his stomach leaking beads of precum down the shaft. He stroked himself firmly a couple times, savoring the feeling of being free from his armor after so long. Finally, he leaned in and kissed Riyo. It was long and slow and she moaned at the taste of herself on his tongue.

His hands ventured down to rest on her hips and Riyo had just enough time to brace herself before Fox flipped their positions so she was straddling his thighs.

Without breaking eye contact, Riyo reached down and took his cock in hand and gave it a firm stroke, gathering the precum from the tip and spreading it along the length. Fox nearly choked on his tongue at the sensation, having been neglected for too long. “Fox,” Riyo called sweetly.

He forced himself to look up at her sitting above him like a goddess. Sometimes he was convinced she was. “Hmm?”

“Keep your eyes on me,” she whispered before lifting herself up on her knees and sinking down onto him in a single, smooth motion.

It took everything in Fox to keep his eyes open and focused on Riyo moving against him. They were both far too wound up and the longer he watched her writhe in his lap, the closer he got to the edge. Fox sat up abruptly, nearly knocking Riyo off balance. They both froze after he caught her with his hands on her hips. They dissolved into ridiculous giggles, foreheads pressed together and Riyo’s hands cradling the sides of Fox’s face.

Riyo pulled him into a kiss that became more a sharing of breath back and forth than anything else as they both gasped and moaned, Fox guiding her up and down over his shaft. As overstimulated as she was, it wasn’t long before Riyo’s walls clenched around him again. He reached between them and rubbed at her clit with quick, little movements.

“Fox!” She yelled, pulling away from the kiss. “I’m gonna cum again. Oh, Fox!”

She keened and whined, teetering at the edge. Her abs clenched hard and her eyes squeezed shut as Fox leaned down and pressed his lips to her throat, still moving his hand between them. He latched his lips over where he hoped to one day put a making mark into her skin, and grazed over the smooth expanse with his teeth.

Her orgasm rocked through her like a vice and she opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She rocked up and down frantically to ride out every last tendril of pleasure. When she finished, Fox gripped her hips and gave one, two, three more long, hard thrusts before slamming into her a final time and filling her with his seed, groaning against her skin and grinding his teeth together to resist marking her like he so desperately wanted to.

They sat pressed together, trying to catch their breaths as they both came down from their highs. Fox wrapped his arms securely around Riyo’s waist and leaned back into the mountain of pillows, slipping out of her and repositioning her so she was resting against his chest. He ran his his hands through her ruffled hair, working out the knots as he went and she traced circles across his chest absently. Fox had his finger trapped in a particularly stubborn cluster of lilac hair when a chill ran down his spine.

“You took your pill didn’t you?” He asked suddenly. “Even though you didn’t come home before the party?”

“Mmhmm,” Riyo said. “Imka remembered to grab the pack on our way out the door this morning.”

Fox nodded his head a couple times before relaxing again. “Okay, good.”

“Very,” Riyo replied, eyes falling shut even as she spoke. “That certainly would’ve been something.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been,” Fox said through a yawn. “We should probably get cleaned up before we fall asleep. Change the sheets.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Riyo mumbled against his chest. “I’ll get up in a minute.” She was already asleep before the last word passed her lips.

Even all that time later, she still held the memory of that bitter Rodian tea on her tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> cyare: beloved


	3. Agony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, the problem wasn’t a conversation at all, as Rex and Fives (and also Wolffe and Cody and Bly) had found their way to her at some point or another during her relationship with Fox without any ill effects to her overall reputation. Riyo had not been in the Senate for terribly long when compared to the tenure of some of the other Senators, but she knew well the dangers of being too comfortable. She refused to become complacent around people who could have her fiancé carted back to Kamino in a durasteel box for the crime of existing too contentedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never?
> 
> Maybe not agony but they're a little stressed!

Despite frequently working around each other in the Senate building, Fox and Riyo rarely found the time to do more than greet each other in passing.

Of course,it wasn’t as if they could be any more affectionate past a kind nod and a slightly more than polite smile. Riyo learned quite quickly that their lives would be much less complicated if they mostly ignored each other throughout the day. Fox wouldn’t receive any uncomfortable stares or comments for being caught acting familiar with a Senator and Riyo wouldn’t have to explain to her peers why she spent her time speaking with the help on a regular basis. It was simply easier to pretend they didn’t exist within each others’ orbits.

A conversation wouldn’t raise too much suspicion on its own. There were plenty of Senators that were kind to the troopers when they were around. The problem would arise because a conversation would never be enough. As it goes, once was an accident, twice was a coincidence, three times was a pattern, four times… and so on and so forth.

Senator Organa was known to have the Commanders of the Corrie Guard share lunch with him outside of an official capacity on a regular basis, and Senator Amidala had been seen on more than one occasion speaking with a clone officer wearing war-scuffed armor decorated in blue paint. That raised quite the stir the first time she was seen with the man. Then, even more so when he brought an ARC trooper around to her office with him. Padmé was followed by whispers for weeks every time she was bold enough to invite Rex and Fives to visit her in the Senate. Had anyone known that those men were the closest thing Padmé had in terms of brothers-in-law from her Jedi husband, well, the fallout would be quite the explosion on all fronts, and not one that anyone would really want to be anywhere near as there was too much chance of getting caught in the wreckage. Riyo was well aware she was within that blast radius. Maybe not as close to the epicenter as Padmé Amidala Naberrie Skywalker (so many names in Nabooian culture), but close enough to also call those very same men family.

No, the problem wasn’t a conversation at all, as Rex and Fives (and also Wolffe and Cody and Bly) had found their way to her at some point or another during her relationship with Fox without any ill effects to her overall reputation. Riyo had not been in the Senate for terribly long when compared to the tenure of some of the other Senators, but she knew well the dangers of being too comfortable. She refused to become complacent around people who could have her fiancé carted back to Kamino in a durasteel box for the crime of existing too contentedly.

That is to say, Riyo and Fox didn’t often acknowledge each other at work. But Riyo made a concerted effort at least once a week, both of their schedules permitting, to find her way to Fox’s office in the GAR headquarters with lunch in tow.

She slipped in through a side door and followed a long hall until she reached a lift that took her down a few levels to the Coruscant Guard floor of the building. It was a dreary place. The floor was a very standard durasteel that conveniently complemented the bare, duracrete walls. There were no windows or embellishments or anything truly of note besides the random caff machine or water station spaced evenly down the halls.

Fox’s office was at the very end of the first hall she came to and was marked by a plaque on the door that read ‘CC-1010.’ A little piece of flimsi was tacked directly under it that read ‘Fox.’

Riyo rapped her knuckles against it exactly four times and waited a moment for the door to slide open to reveal Fox on the other side.

“Good afternoon, Commander,” she greeted with a wink.

He ducked his head and chuckled at her. “Hello to you too, _Senator_.” He moved out of doorway so she could stride in past him and plop down in the guest chair across from his desk. The door slid shut behind her and Fox engaged the lock before sinking down behind his own desk.

“So, what’s on the menu today?” He asked, clearing the desk of datapads to the best of his ability.

“Banthaburgers!” Riyo declared happily, reaching into her over-sized bag and pulling out wrapped packages of food.

“Really?” Fox asked. “You never want banthaburgers.”

“Call it a pre-heat craving then, I don’t know,” she laughed. “Just take the burger.” She leaned further across the desk to wave it under his nose.

Fox grabbed it from her hand with a snort. “Speaking of which, what days do you think I need to tell Thire I need him to cover?”

“I’m not sure this time around, unfortunately,” Riyo answered. “I know it’s difficult for him to adjust shifts, but we may just have to wait until it starts and then take the two days after that off.”

Fox quirked an eyebrow at her curiously as he took a bite out of his burger. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Truthfully, I think it’s that Relief Aid Committee I’m on,” she replied. “If I wasn’t so damn concerned about Senators Taa and Deechi trying to funnel credits into their own pockets and away from their people, then maybe, just maybe, my heat wouldn’t be late again.” Riyo was frustrated beyond belief that the committee had dragged on as long as it already had. They should’ve reached an agreement weeks ago and yet she still found herself in mindlessly dull meetings three times a week only to watch grown men and women scream at each other from across a table.

“I could arrest Orn Free Taa if you want?” Fox offered. “I would say the same for Deechi except I _have_ arrested him before. Slimy s _habuir_ always manages to get away again. Taa though—he’s an easy target.” He took a large bite out of his burger and smiled with his mouth closed around his food.

Riyo shook her head at him, chest shaking through silent giggles. “As much as I would love to see him panic for once in his life, I’m afraid that may not fix the problem. Sweet though. Maybe a good gift for our anniversary if you need ideas.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, then.”

Those moments spent together in the sanctuary of his office never lasted very long. Riyo kept a full schedule most days and Fox was always having to check his comm in case there was an emergency, like the senseless squabble in the Senate building over the air filtration system in one office versus another that interrupted them the week prior. But they took in their time together gratefully, sure to savor every moment they saw each other in the light of day, even if there were no windows. They spoke about their days and they teased each other mercilessly and they never once talked about the war. Instead, they talked about Cody meeting his step-son for the first time and how he panicked to Fox because “he’s _older_ than me, _vod_.” And they talked about Riyo’s mother’s shop back on Pantora and the box full of scented soaps she was sending them because “simply nothing will ever be as good for the skin as real, cold pressed, Pantoran oils.”

When their moments of peace together ended, Riyo wrapped her arms around Fox’s back and he leaned down to reach her better and they stood in silence before they allowed the rest of the galaxy to catch up to them.

“Everything will work out in the end,” Riyo whispered as the door slid open, a mantra they repeated to each other in times of uncertainty.

Sometimes, Fox had a hard time believing it.

Then again, so did Riyo.

***

Typically, Riyo’s day began every morning at 4:30am whether she set an alarm or not. 

That day was a bit different.

She had been sleeping as peacefully as she ever did when her eyes suddenly popped open. The bed was warm and Fox was a steady presence beside her, breathing slow and heavy in a way he swore wasn’t snoring. The room was a little cold but there were enough blankets on their bed to make up the difference. No lights had been clicked on and nothing had been disturbed. Her comm had no new messages when she checked it and Fox’s wasn’t blinking with a notification on the table beside him.The holoscreen on the far wall was dark and silent, having shut itself off when their film had ended, both of them fast asleep.

Riyo was laying flat on her back staring up at the ceiling for answers as to why she was wide awake at 3:49 in the morning when the answer finally hit her.

Her stomach flipped dangerously and it was all she could do to stumble from their bed and race across the room to the ‘fresher. She had one hand firmly pressed over her mouth as if she could stave off the nausea that way, and she didn’t even have time to hit the lights to illuminate the room before she collapsed in front of the toilet and vomited.

The lights clicked on around her and Riyo sat back on her heels as Fox walked through the door, bright eyed and alert in a way that came from years of having to be ready at a moment’s notice.

“Riyo?” He asked, walking up to where she was sat on the floor and crouching down in beside her. He brushed a wayward strand hair out of her eyes and she looked up at him pitifully. “Are you okay, _cyare_?”

Riyo opened her mouth to answer but didn’t get out so much as a single word before she was retching into the toilet again, tears running down her cheeks from the strain. Fox’s hands reached from behind her and gathered her hair to pull it out of the line of fire, and he sank down to the floor more fully to rub soothingly at her back.

“I’m sick,” Riyo panted when the wave had passed.

“Hmm. I can see that,” Fox answered, pulling her back to rest against his chest. “It’s a good thing Stone owes me a favor for taking his shift at the prison last week because today seems like a good day to watch holodramas in bed.”

Riyo sat up and looked at him. “I can’t miss work, Fox. We’re still debating on the relief bill and I have meetings and the Assembly and-“

“Riyo,” he said, cutting into her panicked tirade. “You haven’t taken a day off in months at this point. At the rate you’ve been going you’ve probably worried yourself sick.”

“We work almost the exact same schedule, Fox,” she replied.

He chuckled and pressed his lips to her temple. “Exactly my point. Send Imka in your place and I’ll send Stone in mine and we’ll both go back tomorrow.”

Riyo stared at him as she thought, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “Just today. I absolutely have to go tomorrow even if I have to carry a bucket around to do it.”

Fox snorted and shook his head at her. “And you would probably still smell better than some of your colleagues.”

Rolling her eyes, Riyo swatted and his chest and boosted herself from the floor, offering Fox a hand up. He followed her to the sink where she started to brush her teeth and rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Comfy?” She asked around a mouthful of toothpaste.

“Tired,” he responded with a yawn.

Riyo snorted at him and rinsed her mouth, turning in his arms to look at him in the overly bright lights of their ‘fresher. With no threat immediately present, the adrenaline had left Fox's system and his eyes drooped with exhaustion. She ran a thumb across his cheek and he smiled at her softly and that alone eased the cramping in her stomach.

They laid back in bed and turned on some ridiculous holodrama that was awful enough to only be shown in reruns during the early hours of the morning. Fox was the first to give in to sleep, having learned long ago how to rest at a moment’s notice. Riyo laid awake longer, occasionally reaching down to rub at her aching stomach in a bid to ease the waves of nausea. Even still, they were both out of bed and on the cold ‘fresher floor three more times by late morning.

So, Imka came by to collect the datapads she would need for the day and Stone took two mugs of caff to prison guard detail to ease the heaviness in his limbs and Riyo and Fox slept on and off for the rest of the day. Everything would go back to normal the next day.

Except, Riyo spent every morning for the rest of the week in a miserable heap on their ‘fresher floor, Fox only leaving her side when he absolutely had to be at the GAR base. Riyo would eventually fall asleep leaned back against his chest and Fox would lift her up in his arms and carry her back to bed until the next wave woke her.

She missed an entire week of work before finding a delicate balance of dry crackers and ginger tea that would allow her to get on with her day. Fox went back to the GAR barracks in the mornings again and Riyo went back to the Senate and life moved on for them as if nothing had ever happened.

Fox didn’t have to know how little food she was actually keeping down.

***

“This has to be a joke!” Riyo exclaimed as she stormed into her office. She slammed the stack of flimsi in her hand down on her desk and turned to face Imka as she closed the door behind her. Riyo braced her hands on her desk behind her and leaned back, head tilted down to stare at her feet.

“I know. I couldn’t believe it myself, ma’am,” Imka replied,hurrying around the table at the sitting area in the corner of the room to set up their lunch.“I tried to argue with them as best as I could, but they simply do not listen!”

Riyo shook her head a couple times, keeping her eyes planted firmly on her feet. “They never do. I have spent a standard month trying to keep this from happening. And yet here we are. No matter what anyone does or says, men like Orn Free Taa and Mee Deechi walk away with more money for their holiday homes!” She shouted, turning away to walk around her desk and look out at Galactic City beyond her window.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have been more help. I’m afraid men like that see this war as a game sometimes,” Imka said softly, the cutlery in her hand hitting the low table with a dull thump.

“It’s not your fault. Even if I had been here, I’m not convinced anything would’ve ended up any different.”

“How do you mean?”

Riyo clutched at the window sill and ground her teeth together to resist the urge to scream. “These debates, these politicians, t-this war,” her voice quivered and she stopped to swallow against the lump forming in her throat. “They’re all built on greed. We will never beat a man that is willing to sacrifice his own morals in the pursuit of his own gain. So, Orn Free Taa will go find solace in the arms of the last whore on Coruscant he hasn’t scared away yet and his people will continue to starve and Felucia will be ripped apart by our troops without any help to rebuild and Umbara will sequester away funds to do Goddess knows what that will inevitably come back to kick us in the _shebs_!” Riyo jumped when a hand pressed to her back and she turned to face Imka standing behind her.

“Maybe you should come sit down and try to eat,” she said, holding out a handkerchief. Riyo took it and hastily wiped at the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Yes. Yes, I’m sorry. I know we don’t have a terrible amount of time before the Assembly,” Riyo replied, lowering her voice. She nodded her head and turned to move towards the plush armchair in the corner of the room, Imka settling into the one across from her. Riyo reached for one of the flimsi containers on the table. She lifted the lid to take to take in the aroma of the soup from the Pantoran cafe in the Senate district, but then slammed it back down when her stomach rolled dangerously. Riyo shoved the container as far away from her as she could on the table and turned her head from the scent, taking in several slow, deep breaths so stave off the nausea wreaking havoc on her gag reflex. “Oh, that’s terrible!”

Imka looked at her surprised and reached for her own serving of soup. She sniffed it first and tilted her head to the side, then brought a spoonful to her mouth. “I don’t understand what’s wrong. It seems fine and they came from the same pot. I watched them dish it up.”

Riyo looked down at her hands in her lap, worrying at the handkerchief she still held.

“Riyo?” Imka called hesitantly.

Looking up in shock at hearing her name, Riyo held her gaze before huffing a humorless laugh. “You don’t use my name very often,” she said in reply.

“It doesn’t always seem proper. But, as a friend, I think it’s time I ask. Are you ready to talk about it yet?”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Riyo replied, although she knew she answered too quickly.

Imka hummed low in her throat and held her gaze. “I believe you do because you are a very intelligent woman. You didn’t take any time off for your heat like you should’ve this month. Then last week with that bug that seems to have stuck with you. And, frankly ma’am, I manage your personal bag so I know you’ve also missed your monthly. But if you’re not ready yet, then we can wait.”

Riyo’s hands shook in her lap no matter how hard she clenched them together and her eyes filled with tears she didn’t bother to try and stop.

“Have you talked to him?” Imka asked when Riyo remained silent.

“Not yet. I wanted to be sure first,” she replied softly. Her words tasted awfully salty and her tongue was sticking oddly to the rough of her mouth. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“No, I wouldn’t expect so.”

Riyo skipped lunch that day. Or, she waited until Imka left to use the ‘fresher to hurriedly eat a GAR issued ration bar Fox had left on her side table that morning. Even if it had the consistency of wet sand on her tongue, it would keep her on her feet for a few more hours. After they had eaten, Imka sent her off to the Senate Assembly while she hurried off to run “errands,” and Riyo sat through the painfully dull charade that passed for politics in the Republic, trying desperately to keep her eyes open as one Core World Senator yelled at another.

When she returned to her office nearly 2 hours later she found Imka waiting for her with a prepackaged sandwich and a brown drugstore bag. The test strips were shoved into a desk drawer under a stack of flimsi for later and she settled down behind her desk to sit through a holocomm with the chairman of Pantora.

The meeting was unfortunately cut short by the emergency alarm ringing through the Senate building, though. Thire burst into her office and dragged her to the door as a giant claw tore through the windows behind her desk and they barely made it into the hall as the Zillo Beast roared.

Truthfully, the matter slipped from her mind entirely after that.

***

Fox didn’t come home for five days following the Zillo Beast disaster. Parts of Galactic City had been decimated in the creature’s rampage and countless people were left homeless and injured and desperate in the aftermath. He found time to comm her once or twice between mitigating the relief missions across the city and grabbing odd hours of sleep in his office. But otherwise, Riyo was left to her own devices in her apartment alone.

The Senate was closed until things settled down. Everyone was encouraged to work on whatever they may have to finalize, but all votes would be on hold for the next couple weeks. Truthfully, she had nothing to do with her idle hands. Instead of what little work she had available, Riyo baked.

Every morning she would rise and patiently wait out her nausea. Then, she would have a bowl of broth and bread with a side of ginger tea, the taste cut with a spoonful of honey. She would wash and put away her dishes and then spend hours flitting around her kitchen until the counters were lined with muffins and rolls and little cakes.

By the third day she spent alone, she had seen quite enough of the inside of her apartment. She packed all of her sweets into baskets and bags, loaded her speeder, and took off for the GAR headquarters.

Riyo didn’t pay any attention to the upper brass making their way leisurely through their days. If she stopped for too long, the sight of their well rested faces would make her sick and she’d had enough of that. Instead, she strode past them proudly until she reached the lift that shot her down to the Corrie Guard offices.

Below the surface, everything was in chaos. Troopers were in a flurry of movement around her as soon as the doors to the lift opened. Most of them paid her very little attention, instinctively moving out of her way as she searched for the main common room. There were helmets on almost every available surface she passed and random bits of armor tossed into piles against the walls, often accompanied by a trooper sleeping next to it. Most of the men were in various states of undress, caring very little for proper uniform standards after 72 hours of being on shift. Riyo simply did her best to avoid stepping on any wayward limbs or bits of plastoid and continued on her path.

The common room looked very much the same as the rest of the floor. It was a fairly plain room if exceptionally large. There were stacks of chairs pushed into the corners of the room and threadbare couches placed haphazardly throughout the space. Troopers were laying piled three to a couch and in various piles of half armored men on the floor, with even more slouching against the walls with mugs of caff in hand. Riyo spared them all a sympathetic glance as she passed into the large room and made her way to the tables pressed against the back wall. Again, it was absolutely covered in helmets and plastered in spare bits of flimsi, and she stood back to consider the mess.

“Can I help you, Senator?” Thire asked as he came to stand next to her.

“I don’t like to feel useless, but I’m afraid the Senate has rendered me so in this situation. I thought you all might like a treat while they worked you to the bone,” she answered, hoisting her bags of baked goods higher on her shoulders.

Thire raised an eyebrow at her and nodded his head in approval before silently reaching out to move the helmets to the floor. They laid out the spread Riyo had brought with her, then backed away as a crowd of troopers converged on the table, thankful to eat something that wasn’t a ration bar for the first time in days. Riyo was starting to understand that sentiment.

“Is he here?” She asked Thire quietly in their secluded spot across the room from the crowd.

“Afraid not,” he answered sympathetically. “The last I heard he had headed out early this morning to look for survivors in the lower levels.”

Riyo nodded her head and wrung her hands nervously. “Just make sure he eats if you can.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

***

When Fox walked through the door of their apartment after spending a week at the GAR headquarters, Riyo thought he looked older.

He had already pulled his helmet over his head and set it on the table by the door. Walking into the living room where Riyo was reading a holonovel, his footsteps seemed to be heavier than she had ever heard before. There were dark circles under his eyes and the faint lines on his face seemed to be deeper. His hair was still wet from the showers at the base and there was a little bactapatch high on his cheek.

Fox collapsed fully armored onto their couch and laid his head down in Riyo’s lap, staring up at the ceiling unseeingly.

“Welcome home,” she said, setting her novel aside and running her hands through his damp hair.

“I’m glad to be back,” he replied tiredly.

Riyo leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead and his eyes fluttered shut at the contact. “You should go change into something more comfortable. You’ve been in your armor for too long.”

Fox opened his eyes and met her gaze. He raised a hand to her face and swiped a thumb against one of the green tattoos on her face. “Thire said you stopped by the offices a couple days ago with food. Thank you. They really needed that.”

“It was no bother. They deserved a reprieve during that mess,” Riyo replied, grasping his hand and holding it to her cheek.

“Hmm. The worst of it should be over now. They’ll have to bring in crews to fix the damage, if they can find it to do in that oh so tight budget of theirs. But we found who we could.”

“How long do you get to be home this time?”

Fox’s eyes fell closed again and he settled his weight more fully onto the couch, careful to keep his filthy boots over the edge of the arm rest. “Three days. Then I’ve got prison duty. After that I’ll spend the week in the Senate as the Assembly reopens.”

“That’s good,” Riyo said and Fox’s eyes shot open to look at her.

“There’s something wrong.”

Riyo quirked a brow at him and did her best to keep her breathing even. “No, there’s not.”

“Is it one of my brothers?” He asked, sitting up and turning to face her.

“No! I promise, Fox. Your brothers are fine and nothing has happened.”

He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “It’s you then,” he replied. “I know you better than that. Your hands started shaking the moment I walked in.”

“Well, kark,” Riyo exclaimed, getting a startled laugh out of him. Fox sat back in his spot and grabbed Riyo’s hands from where they were clenched together in her lap. “You should rest for a bit. It’s nothing that can’t wait.”

“You won’t feel better until we talk about it. Come on, Ri. I have days to sleep and knowing you, this has probably been sitting on you for a while,” he argued.

“Fox,” she started.

“Please, Riyo. What is it?”

Riyo sighed and pulled her hands back to run them nervously through her hair. “Do you remember that diplomatic party we had to go to last month?”

“The one with the gross tea you talked about for a week?” He asked.

Riyo glared at him. “I’ll let that go because I’ve missed you. But, yes actually. Well, I’ve had a lot of time to look into that tea because it’s been on my mind and it’s got all kinds of uncommon herbs and spices in it. It’s really the only thing I’ve had differently that I can think of that could’ve done what I think it did and-“

“Riyo,” Fox said, cutting her off. “What about the tea?”

She took a deep breath to center herself but still couldn’t quite meet Fox’s eyes. “I think something in it disrupted my contraceptive pill. Or, at least that’s what I found on the HoloNet and I-I know we thought there was a chance you couldn’t but-“ Riyo stopped herself when Fox’s eyes widened. It seemed he understood the message well enough. “I think I’m pregnant, Fox.”

The room was silent. They stared at each other sitting side by side on the couch but neither of them had anything to say. Fox was the first to move, brining his hands up to cup either side of Riyo’s face.

“Have you taken a test,” he asked a little breathlessly.

Riyo shook her head in his grasp. “Not yet. I was going to before everything happened last week. But, I wasn’t sure when you would be home again, so I thought I’d wait for you.”

“Alright then,” Fox said softly. “I’m home now and I will be for a few days. I’m going to change and if you take a test while I do that, we can know in the next few minutes.”

“Either put it behind us or figure out what comes next,” she agreed.

So, Fox wandered mindlessly to his side of the closet and found something soft and comfortable to wear for the evening, sure to put his armor on the rack by the bedroom door like always despite the unsteady feeling in his limbs. Riyo found herself in the refresher in their bedroom with a box of test strips in hand, sure to read the instructions over and over again until she was sure she could repeat them back verbatim if asked. They met back in the living room. Again sitting side by side on the couch, they both stared at the plastoid stick laying on its box on their caff table until the longest 5 minutes of their lives had finally passed.

Truthfully, neither of them were terribly surprised when the word ‘Pregnant’ flashed across the little screen. All the same, it was the most monumental moment of their lives, and surely the most dangerous either of them had ever faced.

Riyo gasped as if she was surprised, or maybe she was just scared and didn’t know how else to handle it. Fox stayed silent through the whole ordeal. He pulled Riyo closer into his side and settled them back into the couch and let her cry into his shirt. No one ever had to know, but a few tears fell from his eyes too, but he wasn’t sure what they meant.

“You should comm your mother,” Fox said eventually, force cracking from disuse.

“It’s the middle of the night on Pantora,” Riyo sniffed.

Fox pressed his lips to her hair. “She’s not going to care.”

She picked up her comm from the table beside the couch and started to punch in a familiar number. Fox finished the last half when her fingers began to shake.

“What happens after this?” Riyo asked before she sent the call through.

“I don’t know right now,” Fox replied. “But, everything will work out in the end.”

Sometimes, Riyo had a hard time believing that.

Then again, so did Fox.

They could only sit back, take a deep breath, and hope that it was true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando’a Translations
> 
> shabuir- extreme insult - “jerk,” but much stronger  
> vod- brother, comrade, “mate”  
> cyare- beloved  
> shebs- backside, rear, buttocks


	4. Shatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox knew better than to think he was anywhere near the inner circle, but he was close enough to warrant him a chair at the table. Palpatine claimed a clone’s perspective would be valued in his decision making. Truthfully, Fox was seldom seen as more than an incredibly expensive decoration in the room. It was the thought that counted though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Foxiyo Week 2 because I don't understand deadlines!

Despite nearly the entirety of the GAR being made up of clones, only a single trooper had a seat in Republic High Command. Fox couldn’t say he particularly appreciated the honor.

The entire Command met formally once each month. The Chancellor’s favorite advisors gathered once every two weeks in the meeting room attached to his office. Fox learned very early in his tenure on both that they were very different things.

Republic High Command was a large gathering of people from all over the galaxy. Some of the greatest military minds of the age came together in an amphitheater near the Senate to discuss where the Republic needed to reenforce the front line and what battalion would best fit their needs and which battalions needed to be called home or replenished with troops. All in all, it wasn’t the worst experience or even the greatest inconvenience Fox faced in a single month. He was allowed to sit through the entirety of it and there was decent food that he was allowed to eat even if he received a few sideways looks from the Coruscanti natives. Fortunately, most of the visiting military leaders from different planets seemed not to mind his presence. Some even went as far as to approach him during recess from the meetings. Generally, it was more the novelty of being so near a genuine clone that motivated them, but most of them were kind to Fox. He preferred their specific brand of ignorant curiosity over the haughty Coruscanti disposition he was used to.

Chancellor Palpatine’s bi-weekly meetings were something else entirely.

Fox knew better than to think he was anywhere near the inner circle, but he was close enough to warrant him a chair at the table. Palpatine claimed a clone’s perspective would be valued in his decision making. Truthfully, Fox was seldom seen as more than an incredibly expensive decoration in the room. It was the thought that counted though.

“Personally, I find the entire matter to be a mockery,”Wilhuff Tarkin said from one side of the table in the large conference room.

_You would._

“Yes, I would have to agree,” Mas Amedda, sitting as close to Palpatine’s right side as he possibly could, added with a nod. “Of course, this seems to be a situation that is best directed towards Kamino, wouldn’t we all agree?”

_Because they’ve always been so forthcoming._

Halle Burtoni lifted a bent, knobbed finger in the air and waved it at the men across from her, the thin bands of gold on her wrist jingling against one another as she moved. “Kamino will not be taking responsibility for this. We were given a template and we cloned that template for your explicit use. When the Republic accepted the clones at the beginning of the war, our terms were agreed to. One of which was the understanding that genetic differences occurred naturally and were not the result of any oversight by our scientists.”

_Of course not. Any such “oversight” would have been culled before anyone noticed._

“I would call this more than a genetic difference, Senator,” Tarkin replied. “What we are dealing with has proven to be pervasive. Every battalion in the GAR, including the very Coruscant Guard stationed here for our protection, has been afflicted.”

_They’re acting as if it’s a disease._

Burtoni shook her head, the beads framing her gaunt face swinging wildly. “I would urge you, Captain, not to speak beyond your expertise. The clones were created from a beta male template. As such, we expected the majority of them to also be beta males, and they are. But mutations are going to occur as is the way of genetics. Just as some clones are decanted female, some presented with different designations upon maturity. Yes, it is unfortunate that this complication did not present itself in a more controlled setting, but try as we might, we Kaminoans have not yet surpassed the Maker!”

_They had always believed they had before. But the guilty don’t claim culpability._

“Yes, well, the last time I checked I don’t have any _female clones_ under my command so at least your people have managed to perfect part of the process!” Tarkin’s face was as red as the far side of a meiloorun fruit. He was boosted half out of his seat with his hands braced on the table, leaning as far over as he could while still maintaining some shred of dignity.

_They deserved to live._

“That is quite enough,” Palpatine said mildly from the head of the table. “As we are all well aware, the matter of presentation and designation goes far beyond learning the sex of a child at birth. This has certainly proven true for the clones too. My friends, we have been discussing this issue for months. I, for one, would appreciate a solution.”

_Wouldn’t we all._

Sly Moore set her teacup down on the table with a clatter, capturing everyone’s attention in the room. “I propose we follow our original plan when this was only one omega in General Kenobi’s battalion. If we simply decommission the defective clones, we will save ourselves from hardship later on.”

Fox had learned very early on that his life would be much simpler if he kept his mouth shut. But, in that moment, Rex and Bly and Wolffe flashed before his eyes and the back of his neck went cold. Before he could stop himself, a little gasp escaped from between his lips.

The room fell deadly silent as everyone turned to face him at the farthest end of the table. No one was sat to either side of him, lest the scent of indentured servitude seep into their clothes, but Fox felt as if the room was closing in on him from all sides. His bucket was sat in the seat next to him but he would have given anything for it to be planted firmly over his head. He ground his teeth together and hoped they would look past his indiscretion.

Of course, with the luck Fox had been having lately, all eyes stayed on him.

“Do you have something to add, Commander Fox?” The Chancellor asked, leaning forward in his seat. There was a kind, encouraging smile on his face but it was undermined by the predatory glint in his eyes. Fox was caught.

“The situation is not ideal, but I believe that it would be best to handle any problems that may arise on a case by case basis. Decommissioning,” the word alone nearly made Fox vomit, “as many troopers as this would require would devastate the war effort.”

Someone huffed across the room. Fox wasn’t sure who it was, likely meaning it was some insignificant military leader from a core world that was included on the council so as not to insult any of the richer planets. “Of course a clone would say that.”

“Please, Colonel,” Palpatine soothed. “I think we should hear Commander Fox’s opinion on the matter. We are speaking about his kind after all.” Every hair on Fox’s body stood on end when the man gestured at him again. “What do you mean when you say that it would devastate the war effort?”

_They all deserve to live._

“Well, we’re not only talking about rank and file line troopers here-“ _not that it should matter_ “-but also some of the highest ranked troopers in the GAR. That first omega that presented in General Kenobi’s battalion a few months ago was a Lieutenant. Not to mention the others that have presented since. By decommissioning every non-beta trooper in the GAR, you would effectively be destroying the pre-existing command structure.”

“Then what about just the omegas, then?” Someone out of Fox’s sight asked. “The alphas aren’t going to hurt anything. They might require some sort of negative reenforcement to correct any attitude problems, but those omegas are going to be more trouble than they're worth.”

“Alright, do that then,” Fox said, eyes flashing dangerously. “But make sure you are prepared to replace countless pilots, medics, engineers, infantrymen, CMOs, ARF Troopers, and ARC troopers. Just off the top of my head I can name two battalion Captains and a _Marshal Commander_ that would have to go.” Fox took a deep breath to steady himself before speaking again. “My point is, no matter where you look in the GAR, you are going to find both alphas and omegas holding everything together and more will always take their places. As Senator Burtoni said, nature finds a way. If we ever hope to see the other side of this war, we need them.”

Fox looked up from where his gaze was affixed to the far wall to find the Chancellor’s eyes on him. “Well said, Commander. I think we can all agree that decommissioning would have consequences we cannot afford. So, does anyone else have any suggestions they would like to offer?”

“What about sterilizing the afflicted troopers?” A voice called.

_That worked so well the first time they tried, I’m going to be a father._

“I don’t understand what the big deal is! It’s not like they’re _real_ alphas and omegas!”

_They were never real people either._

“It’s not like they’re capable of understanding love anyway! They’re not going to find _mates_!”

_You’ve never seen how Rex looks at Fives._

“Any trooper that had a child would abandon it anyway. They don’t understand loyalty outside of the Republic. Commander Fox has proven the scientists at least got that right. They only care about the war.”

_I would abandon it all if it meant Riyo and our baby could be safe._

_***_

“I have to say, Commander Fox,” Chancellor Palpatine said from his spot at the head of the table. “It is quite refreshing to hear from you during such a difficult discussion.”

The meeting had ended and the room had cleared of everyone but the two of them. Fox knew better than to simply leave when everyone else had been dismissed. He had a face to face meeting with the Chancellor at least once a week. If anything pressing had happened, Fox would find himself in the man’s office once a day every day for however long it pleased Sheev Palpatine to have him there. These meetings were no different.

“I appreciate the opportunity to speak, sir,” Fox replied mildly, pausing from organizing his datapads into a neat stack in front of him.

“Hmmm. Yes, well, I can’t help but notice that you don’t take the opportunity very often.”

Fox turned in his seat to fully face the end of the table where the Chancellor was looking down at a datapad of his own as he spoke. “It is an honor to be in the position I am. I certainly try to contribute where I can in these discussions, sir. Sometimes it seems not to be my place to speak. Other times, I feel that my opinion could make a difference in the outcome of the war.”

“I don’t mean any offense when I say this Commander, but I can’t help but feel that you are treated as little more than a wall ornament at times. I’ve tried my best to mitigate that where I can, but unfortunately there is simply no changing everyone’s mind. After all, Coruscant wasn’t built in a day,” the Chancellor said. He set his data pad down on the table with a gentle _tap_ and clasped his hands over it. “No matter what anyone else may think, I would like to assure you that I value your opinion in these matters. After all, it is quite literally your expertise.”

“Thank you, sir,” Fox said. He tensed as if he was prepared for a fight, careful to maintain eye contact from across the room. He had been playing the game for too long to think it was over.

“I can’t help but notice a difference in you today,” Palpatine continued. Fox had never misread him before. “While I agree you are correct that we can’t afford to decommission _so many_ troopers in the GAR, you seem to be speaking from a place of passion.”

Fox swallowed hard and it felt vaguely like glass sliding down his throat. “That’s because I am, sir. I won’t pretend that I am not invested in the safety of the other troopers. I understand that we are at war and that casualties are inevitable. But I would also like to find solutions that would allow as many troopers as possible to come out the other side.”

“I have to agree. From a financial standpoint, the clones in general are quite expensive and we don’t know how many more omegas will pop up from time to time. Certainly, we can perform blood tests and thin the herd from there, so to speak. But that is a much higher margin of error than we can afford in the long run.”

“Of course, sir. That is part of my point. Not to mention the issues that could arise from removing so many specialized troopers from the front lines,” Fox replied.

Palpatine tapped his finger tips together a couple times as he stared at Fox. “Forgive me, Fox, but I can’t help my curiosity. Are you close to any of the afflicted troopers? I know you are not one of course, but I can’t help but wonder about those in the Outer Rim you may know in some capacity.”

Fox’s jaw was aching strangely. It was as if he had bitten into a nut without first removing its shell. It took him a very long moment to realize he was grinding his teeth together. “I have some batchmates that have been affected by the changes, sir.”

“Oh, your batchmates!” Palpatine exclaimed, clapping his hands together once. The noise echoed through the quiet room and a lesser man would have jumped in shock. Fox was fairly certain he was supposed to. “Those are the other clones you were raised with correct?”

“My brothers, yes.” He cleared his throat and couple times before trying to speak again. “We were all on the command track on Kamino and we all oversee battalions now.”

“Tell me about them.”

Fox would have very much preferred not to say a word to Sheev Palpatine about his brothers. That was sacred information that only _aliit_ had a right to know. At the same time, Fox knew it wasn’t a question. “Well, Cody is the oldest of us. Of course, only by a few minutes but we tend to care about those kinds of things with as short as our lives have been. After Cody there’s Wolffe. I’m next, then there’s Bly. Marshal Commanders of the 212th, 104th, and 327th respectfully. Rex is the youngest and he is the Battalion Captain of General Skywalker’s 501st.”

“I didn’t realize you were so closely related to Captain Rex. I have had my fair share of dealings with him in the past. He truly is an incredibly competent clone. Is there any particular reason his rank isn’t higher than Captain?”

 _You know why,_ Fox thought bitterly. “His hair color. He’s naturally blond. Back when we were still cadets, that wasn’t as common as it is now. He was demoted when the war broke out to help fill in the gaps in command. Had he been decanted with black hair like the rest of us, he’d likely be a Marshal Commander as well. He was supposed to be.”

There was nothing Fox would have enjoyed more in that moment than to forcibly remove the sympathetic look from Palpatine’s face.

“And, as I understand it,” Palpatine said, gesturing noncommittally as he spoke, “Captain Rex also happens to be an omega. What about the rest of your batchmates?”

The silence in the room felt like a wet blanket laid over everything. It was stifling and uncomfortable and Fox felt trapped by it. “Wolffe is an alpha. Bly is also an omega. They all presented around the same time. The medics think it has something to do with age versus developmental hormone therapy, but they’re not terribly sure yet.”

Palpatine shook his head and his eyes drooped at the corners in a way that was surely meant to seem kind. “That is certainly a shame. For Commanders Wolffe and Bly, of course that’s a terrible burden to bear. But to a clone like Captain Rex, well, that must be a considerable amount of stress.”

“Sir?”

“I only mean that he must live with a great deal of uncertainty. It’s enough to be decanted with a such a glaring physical defect. But to also be an omega? I can’t say I envy his predicament.”

Fox tracked Palpatine with his eyes as he rose from his seat and began gathering his things from the table, really just a datapad and a stylus. He spared the Chancellor just that moment before quickly rising to his feet and gathering his things in one swift motion. “From what I’ve heard, it’s been a difficult adjustment. The Jedi had been good to him though, despite the circumstances.”

Palpatine gestured towards the door and Fox followed him to it, although the man didn’t open it when he reached it. Instead, he turned to Fox and studied his features. Fox clenched his hands bitterly at the edge of his bucket tucked under his arm.

“Off the record and away from listening ears, what do you truly think of all of this?” Palpatine asked, leaning in far too close to Fox’s personal space.

The Chancellor’s face gave away nothing, staying perfectly neutral despite the thrill of danger Fox felt roll down his spine. “Of the alpha and omega troopers, sir?”

“Yes.”

The datapads in Fox’s hand were rubbing together dangerously in his grip. He shifted them to fit under his arm and pulled his helmet over his head, the weight and warmth of it comforting. “I don’t think anyone would have asked for this to happen, but I also don’t think it’s something to be overly concerned about. I believe that all troopers, regardless of their designations, will always put the Republic and its needs above themselves.”

“Ah, well I would sure hope so,” Palpatine responded, blessedly opening door to let them into his office. Fox made it all the way across the room when the Chancellor’s voice stopped him, turning the very blood in his veins to ice. “For Rex’s sake.”

***

Riyo was still in her office when Fox’s meeting finished. He knew he needed to get back to the GAR base and finish his own work for the day, but his teeth were still chattering and the noise was echoing through his head and he couldn’t think and before he realized what he was doing, he was knocking on Riyo’s office door.

“Come in!”

When the door slid open, Fox stepped through to see Riyo sitting at her desk with Imka leaned in next to her, gesturing at a datapad on the desk.

“Oh, Fox!” Riyo called as he stepped into the room. “What brings you here?”

“Am I interrupting anything?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Imka,” Fox croaked, “Do you care to give us a few minutes?”

“Yes, yes. Of, course,” she replied, gathering things from Riyo’s desk and hastily shoving them into her bag. “If it’s all the same ma’am, I’ll just be heading home for the day.”

“Hmm?” Riyo looked away from staring at Fox across the room. Wearing his helmet, he was nearly impossible to read, but she had had a fair bit of practice. “That’s perfectly fine. I’ll see you in a few days.”

The door slid shut behind Imka with a quiet _shhk._

Fox didn’t move from his spot in the center of the room at first, as if his boots were glued to the ground. The only sound that could be heard were the datapads clattering together in his grip. He strode forward and set them at the very edge of the desk for something to do. Fox griped at the edge of her desk, leaning forward and breathing deep enough for the vocoder in his helmet to pick up the noise.

“What’s going on, Fox?” Riyo asked. “Is everyone okay?”

“ _Elek._ Everyone’s fine.”

Riyo nodded her head at him and leaned back in her seat. “What can I do?”

Breaths huffed harshly through Fox’s helmet and he turned around to pace back and forth in front of her desk. “Ah, you know, Ri,” he said calmly despite how rapidly his chest was moving under his armor. “ _Evaar’la tuur, ruug’la osik.”_

“New day, old shit,” she whispered, looking down at her hands in her lap. “Please, love. What’s happened?”

“I talked to Rex this morning. He commed right when I got to my office. We didn’t get to talk for very long, but he sounded pretty damn thrilled when I answered so I tried to give him some time.” Fox put his hands over the visor of his helmet and laughed coldly. “He was shot in the chest during a campaign on Saleucami. The _di’kut_ is still in the karking medbay.”

“Dear Goddess!” Riyo exclaimed. “I thought you said he was excited when you talked to him!”

Fox turned to face her, dropping his hands to his sides. “Yeah, he really was. He’s laid up for now and he probably will be for a while still. Might even need some help regaining the strength in his left arm before they put him back on active duty. He’s in a little bit of pain right now, but he doesn’t seem to care all that much. Fives hasn’t left his side in that medbay for nearly a week. Kriff, Riyo. You should’ve heard him. I don’t think Rex has ever sounded so _optimistic_ before.” He paused and looked out at the Coruscant skyline past Riyo’s head. He would never know any of those people zipping through the city and they would never know him and Fox wondered exactly what they were all worth. “He’s talking about marrying Fives now.”

Riyo stood from her desk and smoothed her loose dress out, stopping for just a moment to rest her hand on the curve of her stomach the gauzy fabrics worked to hide. “That’s amazing, Fox! He’s come a long way from the last time you spoke with him.”

Shaking his head, Fox turned away again. He grasped at either side of his helmet and pulled the seals loose for it to slip over his head. “Sometimes I wonder how much he has to look forward to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a war council meeting,” Fox started. “I’m not really supposed to talk about those, but frankly there are worse things I’ve done they could kill me for anyways.” He held the helmet out in front of him and the lights in the office glared in the visor. Fox was momentarily blinded before his eyes refocused on his own reflection. The Chancellor may not have laid a finger on him, but his mark was still there. Fox’s eyes were wide and highlighted the bags under them, and his face was pulled into a painfully neutral expression that could only be described as empty. “They were talking about what to do about the alphas and omegas in the GAR.”

Riyo huffed, crossing her arms and bracing one hip against her desk. “There’s nothing for them to _do about it._ They act as if the GAR isn’t full of alpha, beta, _and_ omega natborns. So, what was it this time?”

Fox cleared his throat. “Decommissioning again. I did what I could to warn them away from that and it seems to have worked for now. But then they moved on to sterilization or sending them back to Kamino to train the cadets. One particularly ambitious bastard thought ‘breeding’ was a good suggestion as a way to supplement the DNA issue in the cloning process. Thankfully, no one seemed too thrilled with the idea of running a glorified tooka mill. Even more so seeing as clones in relationships with others clones is unnatural and all.”

“Someone said that outright?”

For the first time since walking in her office, Fox made eye contact with Riyo across the room. The plastoid of his helmet squeaked in his grip. “Of course they did. It doesn’t matter who my brothers are or what they’ve accomplished. All anyone ever seems to care about these days is who they fuck.” Fox looked back down again and and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry.”

Riyo scrunched her eyebrows together. “You don’t need to apologize to me. But, Fox, love, we have to be more optimistic than that. It won’t be like this forever.”

He resumed pacing back in forth across the room, dropping his arms back down with his helmet loose in his grasp. “T-the Chancellor said that Rex needs to be careful being both a defective clone and an omega. I’m not really sure what more they expect from him or from Bly or Wolffe o-o-or anyone!” Riyo took a step back when Fox raised his voice. “I’ve had enough. I-I don’t know how much more they’re supposed to take!” He gestured wildly with his helmet. “I’m so _karking_ frustrated. Day in and day out. Constantly facing the war and making sure the kriffing Republic stays afloat when the people that run it are deciding whether they have the right to wake up tomorrow because someone in a lab somewhere didn’t do their karking job! Because apparently we clones are incapable of loving anything bast the blaster in our hands. And the Chancellor still has the audacity to look me in the eye and threaten my brother! Because at the end of the day, we are nothing more than droids! To do his bidding! And that’s all we’ll ever be!” Fox flung his arm out again and his helmet went flying from his hand across the room. Riyo yelped and jumped back as it slammed into a stone pillar at the side of the room and fell to the ground, glass from the HUD raining down around it.

“That’s enough, Fox!” Riyo didn’t often raise her voice, and even then only when she knew it was her last choice. Fox jerked his head up from staring at the mess on the floor and she was struck dumb by the tears in his eyes.

“I-I-I’m sorry. It slipped. It shouldn’t have- I didn’t mean to-“ Fox’s hands were shaking and he grasped at his hair, doubling over and squatting low to the ground. He jumped when soft hands rested on his own pulling his hair at the scalp. Fox pulled away violently, collapsing to his armored bottom on the soft carpeted floor. “Don’t. Please, Riyo. Kark, I could’ve hurt you. Both of you. I could’ve hit you!“ He gasped and the breath was painful when it hit his lungs.

“You’re not going to hurt me,” she whispered, falling to her knees in front of him. She ran her thumbs under his eyes and he was shocked to see them come away wet with tears.

“Riyo?” He choked out.

She didn’t have to say anything really. She grasped at the back of his neck and pulled him down until he collapsed into her arms, sobbing painfully into her chest.

“I’m so tired,” he gasped.

“I know, love,” she answered. “I know.”

From where they sat, Riyo could see the shards of glass embedded in her carpet around his ruined helmet and she closed her eyes against their shine. It was a mess they would be able to clean up later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> aliit- clan, family  
> elek- yes  
> Evaar’la tuur, ruug’la osik.- New day, old shit.  
> di’kut- idiot


End file.
